Sealing device

ABSTRACT

An end-face sealing device between, on the one hand, rotating pairs of rolls and, on the other, stationary chambers, by sealing elements fitted in the end-faces of the rolls being adjustable in the axial direction of the rolls and prevented from turning with the rolls, and sealing plates fitted in the side walls of the chambers in such a manner that they are pressed on to the sealing elements with the aid of corresponding devices. This device allows a reproducible sealing of the end-faces of the pairs of rolls by sealing plates which do not have to be pressed on to the end-faces of the pairs of rolls.

United States Patent Bumberger Dec. 9, 1975 SEALING DEVICE 3,402,656 9/1968 Stocking 100/176 x [75] Inventor: Dietrich Bumberger Bobingen, 3,758,179 9/1973 Smith 308/1871 Germany Primary Examiner--Robert S. Ward, Jr.

[73] Assrgnee: Hoechst Aktiengesellschaft, Assistant Examiner-Michael Mar Frankfurt am Main, Germany [22] Filed: June 11, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 478,221

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data June 13, 1973 Germany 2329978 [52] US. Cl. 308/187.1; 100/176; 277/81 [51] Int. Cl. F16C 33/76 [58] Field of Search 308/1871, 177; 100/176,

100/121, DIG. 7, DIG. 6; 277/81 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,218,110 11/1965 Conner 277/81 X Attorney, Agent, or Firm--Connolly and Hutz ABSTRACT An end-face sealing device between, on the one hand, rotating pairs of rolls and, on the other, stationary chambers, by sealing elements fitted in the end-faces of the rolls being adjustable in the axial direction of the rolls and prevented from turning with the rolls, and sealing plates fitted in the side walls of the chambets in such a manner that they are pressed on to the sealing elements with the aid of corresponding devices. This device allows a reproducible sealing of the end-faces of the pairs of rolls by sealing plates which do not have to be pressed on to the end-faces of the pairs of rolls.

4 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure US. Patent Dec. 9, 1975 SEALING DEVICE The invention concerns an end-face sealing device between, on the one hand, rotating pairs of rolls and, on the other, stationary chambers. Sealing devices of this kind are particularly suitable for sealing a pair of pull-in rolls against the stationary walls of stufferbox crimping apparatus for crimping e.g. high-polymer filaments forming ropes.

Most of the troubles in the operation of known stufferbox crimping apparatuses occur at the point of contact between, on the one hand, the end-faces of the pull-in rolls and on the other, the stationary walls of the stufferbox chamber. To prevent accumulation of filaments at this zone, it is usual to fit side-plates into the side-walls of the upsetting chamber, these plates being ground flat with very great precision and being pressed practically continuously against the rotating end-faces of the pull'in rolls, although the intention is to maintain a gap between plate and rolls. In order to avoid damage to the end-faces of the pull-in rolls, soft materials such as graphite, brass or bronze are generally used for the side-plates, but such materials wear correspondingly rapidly. For this reason the side-plates have to be frequently replaced and this means interruption of the production process. The fitting of new side-plates requires considerable skill, and the adjustment of the gap between the side-plates and the end-faces of the rolls is largely subjective and therefore calls for the employment of well-trained and experienced personnel. Proposals for increasing the service life of these side-plates have been disclosed in a number of patent applications and these have aimed at evening out the wear on the side-plates to such an extent that they do not need to be changed so frequently.

German Auslegeschrift No. 1,435,441, for example, discloses the idea of replacing the side-plates by pressure-applyin g belts which can be driven in the direction opposite to that in which the rope of filaments is moved. ln German Offenlegungschrift No. 2,117,393 and also in German Auslegeschrift No. 1,959,863 there are described pressure discs which are mounted on an axis parallel to that of the pull-in rolls and which may be driven either on the basis of their being mounted offcentre or through a separate drive. All the known forms of side-plates or other sealing elements achieve the required seal by means of a pressure applied by the sealing elements to the rotating end-faces of the pull-in rolls. At best they can only cater for even wear of the side-plates and thus prolong the time during which production continues between two changes of the sideplates. However the fitting of the side-plates still continues to be difficult, and adjustment of the side-plates in relation to the end-faces of the pair of pull-in rolls can only be made on a subjective basis. It therefore continues to be necessary to press the side-plates against the end-faces of the pair of pull-in rolls with more or less great force and to accept the fact that the plates will be subjected to heavy wear.

The object of the present invention is therefore that of so locating a sealing device between, on the one hand, the rotating pairs of rolls and, on the other, the stationary chambers, particularly in a stufferbox crimping apparatus, for the purpose of sealing the pull-in rolls against the side-walls of the upsetting chamber that the position of the side-plates in relation to the end-faces of the pair of rolls is adjusted and fixed once and for all, and the side-plates no longer press on the rotating part of the pair of rolls, it being possible instead to maintain a gap between the side-plates and the end-faces of the pair of rolls. It is intended that it will be possible to reproduce the position of the side-plates with the least possible difficulty and expense should it be necessary to replace them.

According to the invention, this object is achieved in that the side-plates (hereinafter called sealing plates) are pressed on to the end-faces of sealing elements fitted in the end-faces of the rolls, and these sealing elements are mounted to be adjustable in the axial direction of the rolls and are prevented from rotating with the rolls. In preferred arrangements, the sealing elements are supported on the drive shafts of the rolls or the end-faces of the rolls by way of bearing elements and have adjusting means which permit adjustment of the position of the end-faces of the sealing elements in relation to the bearing elements and therefore of the position of these end-faces relative to the end-faces of the pair of rolls, before the apparatus is put into operation. By means of the adjustment, the position of the sealing plates, bearing on the end-faces of the sealing elements, in relation to the end-faces of the pair of rolls is fixed in a reproducible manner.

The invention will now be described by reference to an example of one form of construction illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

The drawing shows, partly in section, a stufferbox crimping apparatus, the sectional part being drawn on the plane that includes the axes of both pull-in rolls, the pull-in gap thus being seen as a line of contact between the two rolls. The shafts 2 and 2 of the rolls 1 and 1' respectively are parallel to each other, and one of the two shafts is usually mounted for displacement towards or away from the other. The roll mounted on this displaceable shaft is pressed by the usual pressure-applying means on to the second pull-in roll which is immovably mounted on the machine frame. The two rolls move the textile material which is to be crimped and which is usually in the form of a rope of synthetic filaments, and passes it into the stufferbox chamber, not shown in the drawing, disposed downstream of the rolls. The end-faces 3 and 3 of the pull-in rolls 1 and 1' respectively are machined and mounted with such precision that they lie in the same plane.

Mounted at each end-face of a pull-in roll 1 and l or on the associated roll-shafts is a bearing 4 and 4' respectively which is connected to an annular adjustable sealing element 5 and 5 respectively. Because of the way in which they are mounted, the sealing elements 5 and 5' do not have to rotate with the pull-in rolls, and instead they may be anchored by a suitable means, e.g. a pin. The end-faces 6 and 6' of the annular sealing elements are precisely machined in just the same way as the end-faces 3 and 3 of the pull-in rolls, so that they too lie in the same plane. The sealing plate 7 can be pressed against this plane formed by the end-faces 6 and 6.

The sealing plate 7, which is inserted in the lateral part of the stufferbox chamber 9, is pressed by a screw against the end-faces 6 and 6' of the annular elements. The force used for pressing the sealing plate 7 and the means therefore employed (springs, hydraulic systems etc.) are however unimportant as regards the functioning of the stufferbox crimping apparatus of the invention, since the position of the sealing plate in relation to the plane of the end-faces 3 and 3' is positively established by the annular adjustable sealing elements 5 and 5'. The decisive factor as regards correct functioning is the distance between the plane formed by the end-faces 3 and 3 and the plane of the end-faces 6 and 6. This distance determines the sealing gap between the sealing plate 7 and the end-faces 3 and 3' of the pair of pull-in rolls. The size of the sealing gap can be determined by the position of the sealing elements 5 and 5. It has been found advantageous to arrange for the position of the sealing elements 5 in relation to the bearings 4 and 4 to be adjustable and retainable by the use of known methods; in the simplest case set-screws, for example, are used for the purpose. It is thus possible to adjust the size of the sealing gap 8 between the plane of the endfaces 3 and 3 and the surface of the sealing plate 7 in the best possible manner, before putting the stufferbox crimping apparatus into operation for the first time.

The advantage of the device of the invention will be clearly seen: Whereas in the known stufferbox crimping apparatuses the distance between the sealing plates 7, on the one hand, and the end-faces 3 and 3' respec tively, on the other hand, has had to be readjusted in a subjective manner each time the plates have been changed, i.e. the sealing plate has been pressed towards the plane of the end-faces 3 and 3, all that is now required is a once and for all alignment of the end-faces 6 and 6' of the annular sealing elements with the plane of the end-faces 3 and 3', before putting the device into operation. This distance is maintained in a reproducible manner each time the sealing plates are changed and is completely independent of the pressure whereby the sealing plate is applied to the sealing elements, and of the thickness of this plate.

Since, using the device of the invention, the distance between the sealing plates and the end-face 8 of each pull-in roll is fixed, there no longer occurs the hitherto unavoidable wear of the sealing plates that resulted from the rubbing of the plates on the rotating end-faces of the pull-in rolls.

When using the hitherto necessary sealing plates of soft materials for the purpose of avoiding damage to the end-faces of the rolls there is observed a further type of damage to the sealing plates that is caused by chafing by the crimped material. Since with the sealing device of the invention damage to the end-faces as a result of rubbing on the sealing plates does not occur, these plates may be made of hard material, for example a sintered ceramic material, which is virtually undamaged by the crimped material.

However, if required, sealing plates of soft materials such as brass or bronze can be used in the device of the invention and if required the plates may be disposed off-centre as described for example in German Auslegeschrift No. 1,959,863 or in German Offenlegungschrift No. 2,117,393.

When using soft materials for making the sealing plates of the device of the invention, it is also possible to achieve service lives of at least several months without any reduction in the-quality of the crimped rope that would call for replacement of the plates.

Furthermore the operation of changing the sealing plates of the device of the invention is of course extremely simple and occupies only a small fraction of the assembly times previously necessary, since adjustment of the sealing plates can be dispensed with completely.

We claim:

1. An end-face sealing device between, on the one hand, rotating pairs of rolls and, on the other, stationary chambers, which comprises a. sealing elements fitted in the end-faces of the rolls, being adjustable in the axial direction of the mils and prevented from turning with the rolls,

b. sealing plates fitted in the side walls of the chain bers in such a manner that they are pressed on the said sealing elements, and

c. devices for pressing said sealing plates on the said sealing elements.

2. An end-face sealing device as claimed in eiaim ll, wherein the sealing elements are supported on the end faces of the rolls by way of bearing elements.

3. An end-face sealing device as claimed in ciaim 2, wherein the position of the end-faces of the sealing elements in relation to the bearing elements and therefore the position of these end-faces relative to the end-faces of the pair of rolls can be adjusted with the aid of known adjusting means prior to putting the device into operation, the position of the sealing plates, bearing against the end-faces of the sealing elements, being fixed in a reproducible manner relative to the end-faces of the pair of rolls.

4. An end-face sealing device as claimed in claim 11, wherein the sealing elements are supported on the drive shafts of the rolls by way of bearing elements. 

1. An end-face sealing device between, on the one hand, rotating pairs of rolls and, on the other, stationary chambers, Which comprises a. sealing elements fitted in the end-faces of the rolls, being adjustable in the axial direction of the rolls and prevented from turning with the rolls, b. sealing plates fitted in the side walls of the chambers in such a manner that they are pressed on the said sealing elements, and c. devices for pressing said sealing plates on the said sealing elements.
 2. An end-face sealing device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sealing elements are supported on the end faces of the rolls by way of bearing elements.
 3. An end-face sealing device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the position of the end-faces of the sealing elements in relation to the bearing elements and therefore the position of these end-faces relative to the end-faces of the pair of rolls can be adjusted with the aid of known adjusting means prior to putting the device into operation, the position of the sealing plates, bearing against the end-faces of the sealing elements, being fixed in a reproducible manner relative to the end-faces of the pair of rolls.
 4. An end-face sealing device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sealing elements are supported on the drive shafts of the rolls by way of bearing elements. 